National Republican., 1887-03-11
Co-operation Educates the People.

One Of the greatest advantages OF indus
trial CO. operation is Its power as an edu.
Gator Of those who engage in it. The word
is not used in the sense that applies 1t only
10 school-room studies, but in that broader
Specification which includes knowledge
Of the true principles Of political economy.
Demagogues, with false ideas advo.
Gated by speclous arguments, can and do
nislead hundreds and thousands OF honest
men, some of the most notable modern In.
stances being the case Of Henry George,
with his totally untenable aud nousensical
theory which he calls Gland REFORM" and
the free traders who desire to make this
country legislate for the whole world at the
cost Of the American workingmen.
When a man, however poor, enters
into cooperative association he at once
becomes an owner, not only OF the entire
product OF his own labor and the material
he uses, but part owner OF the labor aud
material used by the entire association OF
which he is q member.
The feeling Of ownership begets caution
and conservatism. The man has stake in
the country, an interest in its welfare, q
future to look to, and he brushes aside the
ideas that, before entering the association,
might have secured his attention. This is
the first step in his education.
The barrel-makers OF Minneapolis, who
organized a CO operative shop, were with
out money when they commenced to even
purchase the material to work on, and
were compelled to borrow that is, to hire
capital for that purpose. in very short
time, as they secured all the benefits OF
their own labor, this necessity no longer ex-
listed, and these men had learned, as all
who enter into CO operation will learn, that
capital, like fire, is most excellent SER
want, though, like 1t, bad master.
This is the second lesson, and most i'm.
portant one. The workingman sees the
necessity Of the existence Of capital as a
force distinct from the labor that origi'
naily produced It, to enable other hoor
to produce more capital. Iu this instance
the capital produced by the labor OF the
workingmen became their own, because
they had been enabled to hire capital as q
necessary servant to assist them 10 produc-
lion.
No ranting demagogue can mako these
men believe in the antagonism OF capital
and labor. The anarchist will appeal iu
vain TO the man who has taken this step in
education, and cooperative association
will thus act as the great conservator oi
society.
But this is not all that cooperation will
teach. Ownership and property teach
self,respect and self reliance. The work
Ian whose wages, when he is the servant
Of capital, will only support his family
with possibly a mere pittance over, Otter
loses bis self respect and indulges in vices
wtith diminish his power Of production
and necessarily his wages. Let this ma,
become the owner OF his own labor, and h,
Tecovers his self.respect, because he is self
reliant and feels himself to be "a factor IL
the social and political fabric,
How 10 live Is the next lesson taught
The cooperative association demonstrate
tie exact cost ofevery article which 1t pro
i,uces. The member Of the association a
olce secs the difference between the cost o
production and the selling price when pro
Luctd by wage labor. He very correctl
concludes that, relatively all other articles
the result Of labUr-are sold at the SAM
difference, and 1t is q very large one, owe
tie cost price, the result being other CO.
operative associations to produce thos
articles, and thus, while the workman
receives the full result of his labor, the cos
Of most Of the necessities, elegancies, ant
Iuxuries Of life ore reduced in/price, en-
ahIlrg the workingman to procure article
which under the wage system 1t would b
impossible for him tofdrchase.
We do not propose to say that co-opera
iIon YlA produce the millennium, but we d
fly, and shall endeavor to establish th
fGct, that, with cooperation generally ac
ctlt,d, all the conditions of life will
materially improved, and that worlingme
thus united will find themselves as muc
stronger tlan they are now as the Unite
States are stronger as nation than woul
all the states be II each was an independen
sovereignty. 1t is the old fable over agai
Of the old man ard the bundle OF sticks
none Ct his sons could break the bundl
whtn united, but any of them could breal
the sticks when the bundle was united. S
capital can make servants Of the working
man when alone, but, when united wit
others, cannot touch him.